Instinct and Research
by ReallyaNip
Summary: Life spins on the point of routine but life also depends on those spectacular curve balls to keep everyone on their toes. Ken is about to learn this lesson very soon with the unexpected help of Brad Crawford. KxB


It was another day in the life of Weiss. Flowers arranged, flowers bought, flowers- well, they were maintained to the consumer's values and expectations.

Just as the flowers were crafted for their specified purpose, so was Weiss. Weiss also was maintained for the consumer's, or in this case Persia's, values and expectations. Life spun on the point of routine and today was no different. However, life also depends on those spectacular curve balls to keep everyone on their toes. The basis for this story has been set; imagine your selves as an unseen spectator, merely an observer watching a story unfold joy, sadness, violence, peace, and love.

Ken sat at the counter, snipping thorns off of a rose. It seemed cliché to be fixing roses on Valentine's Day but he had to cater to the consumer. Despite the thorns that kept pricking the pads of his fingers, Ken adored the red petals. He was stuck in that puppy kind of love with, you guessed it, Ran. He's always had a soft spot for the red head but lately, it's grown into something uncontrollable. Ken would seek him out unconsciously and hold his breath to know he was fine during missions.

Ken and Ran had a casual relationship. It was friends with benefits. The stress of their lives would get to be too much so they would use each other as a relief. In fact, this morning Ken relieved some of Ran's stress. Through the weeks of this set up, Ken's heart began to attach itself to the red head. It came to the point that even Ken was sure Ran knew about his feelings. To an extent, Ken believed Ran returned the sentiment because he allowed Ken, privately and publically, to call him by his given name.

Breaking Ken out of his train of thought, Youji slung an arm around the soccer player's shoulders, "Ken ken, you've been awfully focused on the roses."

Tipping his head up, Ken grinned, "Are you upset that you won't get compliments from the girls?"

"Nope," Youji had a devilish grin that made Ken nervous, "I just think you're trying to please our red head here."

The playboy hit the nail on the head. Ken fumbled now with the stems, glaring at the older male. "Don't say things like that!" Ken knew it was true but he tried to keep things down low. Just for the sake of Ran since he was so private. Looking away, he half smiled at the roses. "I'm just doing a good job."

"For Ran, huh?" Youji was relentless.

"What is for me?" Ken and Youji could practically feel the ice on their backs.

"N-nothin'!" Wide-eyed and innocent, the easiest card to play.

"Hn. Kudou, stop messing with Ken and get back to work!"

Feeling the warmth return to their bodies, Ken whispered out the corner of his mouth, "Good job, you lazy play boy!"

"I do what I do best, kiddo." He ruffled Ken's hair affectionately, smiling.

That same pair of red heels clicked right up to the flower shop door as they had many times before, stopping the iron gate from closing. Youji reluctantly pulled the gate back open for Manx, now knowing that Persia already has scheduled his night time activities. How disappointing, he was just about to dart upstairs to get ready for a night on the town. "Lovely to see you."

"Don't get too friendly, Kudou." Easy enough for Manx, everyone else was cleaning up the store. "Come to the mission room in five minutes." Knowing her way, she left them with her perfume trailing.

Each one filed into the room, one after another. They sat in their own respective seats, eyes focused on the glowing screen. Their mission tonight was to stop another pornography ring. Ken cringed at a few of the images. The ring focused on young children. Tonight was going to be difficult.

The plan for tonight was to ambush their headquarters. Omi would hang back on surveillance while Youji opened the entrance for Ran and Ken. Youji would follow and keep the guards at bay while Ran made sure Ken got to the target. Tonight, Ken was going to finish off the head of the ring, known by the alias T-san.

Youji patted their young brunette on the shoulders. "Let's go." Grabbing all the equipment did not take long and soon enough they were all piled into seven, making way for their destination. Ken was nervous, shaking his leg. He had a feeling that this mission was going to be pleasant. Well, less pleasant than the norm at least.

Youji pulled up. The building looked like any normal office building. Ken chanced a smile over at Ran, gathering his courage. "Wish me luck." He got out of the car, slipping on his head sets. He had to be all business now. Bugnucks on, Ken had only one target.

Getting into the building was easy enough. Youji and Ran were excellent team members- as well as Omi feeding them information. The mission couldn't have been any easier. He made it to the top. This was the moment. His hand hesitated on the door. "Siberian, T-san should be in the room in front of you. You have half an hour before the bombs I set go off."

His hand felt like lead. "Got it." It had to be done. He pushed open the door- and utter horror captured him. T-san was there and so was a little boy, perhaps four. This was not in the plan. In fact, now, the plan was falling apart. Back up was hitting Youji and Ran hard, pressing Ken to hurry.

"Have you come to kill me?" T-san was a middle-aged man with a cunning stare. He sat in his executive office chair with the little boy shivering in his lap. Languidly, T-san stroked the boy's hair. "I was notified of your arrival."

Ken recognized the situation all as it unfolded too quickly. T-san was on a suicide mission. He knew he was caught but he was going to make it horrible for everyone else. Ken made a mad dash, trying to make it in time. "Stop it!" He outstretched his hand, but it was too late. The boy gurgled blood, blood gushing from the slit in his neck. Ken couldn't handle any child being tortured. His bugnucks swung into T-san, crushing into his skull through the front of his face.

The killings might have happened all in less than a minute but the little boy was already lifeless. Grabbing the boy away from T-san, the brunette clutched the child tightly. Why couldn't he have saved his life? Had he not hesitated, would this boy still be alive?

"Siberian!"

How long had he sat there, huddling the boy? The blood was beginning to dry on him. "Y-yeah?"

"You didn't respond!" Which translated from Omi that he was worried. "Status?"

"Confirmed. The mission is over."

"Not yet, kitten."

Twisting his body, still desperately clutching the child, Ken found himself staring up into a golden eye. Shouts of Schwartz arrival crackled into his ear, "No shit". He seemed to have found out early.

Farfello eyed up the child as if it was prey. "Does the kitten have a toy for me? I like it when it makes kittens sad. This must make everyone sad." Farfello bent at the knee, his white pants getting stained in the blood. "This child is never coming home, kitten." He glanced up, smirking. "How does that make you feel?"

Never had Ken had this much time with Farfello where he wasn't being attacked. However, Ken could say Farfello was trying to harm him mentally. "You're sick!" Well, at least his anger was normal. This day was twisting out to be too strange. It wasn't every day he held onto a dead child.

"Schuldig does tell me that." He licked his lips, almost reaching out to touch the blood pooling on the floor. Ken watched his fingers, confused by Farfello's actions. Like a flash, Farfello took advantage of Ken's current mental state and had a knife pressed to his throat. "Schuldig wants me to fetch you." He tapped his temple with his free hand. "He is calling me."

Frowning, Ken began to get up. He had no other option, his arms full. "Leave the child." Well, he thought sardonically, that's one way to free his hands. Reluctantly though, he placed the child on the floor. He knew he wouldn't be able to take the child to bury anyways. Ken was just upset that the child, so young, became a statistic- a casualty that is now a number and not a name.

"Kittens care too much."

"Do we?" Ken chanced it, swinging out at Farfello. He was lucky to catch his side but the pain only provoked Farfello.

"Does the kitten want to play?" He barred his teeth, chasing Ken down a flight of steps with knives as the brunette tried to flee. "I can't let you go, kitten!"

Ken got perhaps two flights before Farfello caught up with him, digging his knife down Ken's thigh. Warm blood rushed down his leg, making running not an option. "I told you," Farfello hissed into Ken's ear once he caught up to him and grabbed his wrists tightly, "I have to bring you."

"Bring me to where?!" Ken tried to rip his wrists out of his grasp but Farfello's hold on him too strong.

"You'll see, kitten." Schwartz had a plan to rip Weiss into two. Brad had a vision that if this certain event happened, Weiss would be split. He did not know how they would be split or for how long but Brad knew that Weiss would be weakened, even if it was only temporary. Weiss were only pawns in this great plan, Ken as a main player at the moment. Thrust into a dark room, Ken stumbled, grabbing the wall as support. Farfello came behind in the darkness, grabbing Ken by the hair and pulling his head up.

Across the room, spread on the table, Ran was with Schuldig. Ran, the man who he had feelings for, was.. Was.. He couldn't verbalize it, not even in his own head. The red head was fooling around with the enemy- in front of him. His heart dropped, shattering. The noises the two made tore at him. Farfello whispered into Ken's ears, "Your kitten and Schuldig have been sneaking off for a month now.. Schuldig thought you should know."

A month? So Ken opened his home, his body, his _heart_ to Ran while he turned around and slept with _Schuldig_?

"How does that make you feel, _kitten_?"

"Fuck you!" He spat, loud enough that Ran turned his head sharply to see where the noise came from. The worst part, other than finding out that his love interest completely played on his affections, was that when Ran saw him, there was no remorse. No shock. Only a frigid glare.

"Looks like we have a spectator." Schuldig lightly bit Ran's ear, smirking at Ken. He actually felt bad for the poor guy. This all hit him like a ton of bricks. "But I think it's time we continued elsewhere." Before Ken could process and react with action, Schuldig and Ran were gone. All Ken had was the empty room, Farfello, and the images replaying over in his head.

Everything- Weiss, being teammates, being friends, being.. whatever they were; it all amounted to nothing. Ken struck his hand back against Farfello but lost his footing. Not because of the wound on his leg but because the whole building shook.

The bombs were going off.

"Looks like our time is up, kitten."

Ken reflected that Farfello was lucky that the floor collapsed on them or he would've smashed in the Irishman's face. He felt his body falling, hitting countless pieces of concrete and steel until his head hit something with a sickening thud. Finally, his world was silent and dark.

Crawford stepped into the rubble with Nagi close behind. He knew Schuldig had gotten out, the telepath had informed him that much. He also let the precog know that Farfello and one of the little weiss kittens were trapped. Searching in the dust was a chore but soon enough, Nagi lifted two bodies from the debris. The image of their bodies floating triggered a short vision, showing Ken lying in Brad's bed. "Hm." He mused, now looking over at Nagi. "Take them both."

The teen raised his eyebrows but otherwise didn't question the decision to take Ken.


End file.
